SYNTHESIS AND EVALUATION OF LO-FI LOW-LOAD HEARING AIDS MODULE WITH PIEZO FILM AND CONDUCTIVE POLYMER

We fabricated a capacitor-type actuator with laminated conductive polymer on both sides of the piezoelectric film and evaluated basic acoustic characteristics. This actuator is applied to our new 'Auditory AR (Augmented Reality) device' which enables users to hear both real and virtual sound information. We carried out measurements of those actuator-characteristics in a cylindrical frame with constant curvature, the same with our AR device. The AC (Alternating Current) amplification characteristics simply increase quasi-linearly within the audio band, and saturate at about 10 kHz, near the upper limit of audio frequency. We applied the autocorrelation analysis method to evaluate the verbal speech transmission efficiency, without human examinee, because of the global pandemic of the COVID-19, and successfully estimated the transmission clarity under the "Virus-free" circumstances. We developed a 'vector effective duration model' to evaluate users' verbal cognitive clarity, only with physical measurement without human subjects. In the low-frequency band below 1 kHz and in the ultra-high-frequency band above 10 kHz, beyond auditory bands, the frame-mounted actuator shows conspicuous attenuation. In the mid-frequency band between 1 kHz and 10 kHz, i.e., higher area of the audio band, selectively amplified frequency components are observed. This mid-frequency band primarily conveys the semantic content of spoken language. This area is the band for "whispering". Our actuator amplifies this "whispering band" in harmonic ways effectively and is suitable for a "Lo-Fi auditory module" that cuts off unnecessary low- and high-frequency bands;auditory organs are mostly exhausted with physical impacts conveyed by those low-frequency components, and they transmit more emotional information than verbal meanings. Users can use this module all day long without auditory fatigue. Renewals in hearing aids and welfare technologies are expected. © International Institute of Acoustics and Vibration (IIAV), 2022.

Comparative Analysis Of Psychological Well-Being, Mood Disorders And Burnout Among People Working From Home Versus Office Going Bank Employees During The Covid-19 Pandemic

BACKGROUND: As a result of rising Covid cases in India, Nationwide Lockdown was implemented from March 22, 2020, followed by a second wave leading to phase 2 of lockdown. Prolonged Work from home and its impact on mental health needs to be evaluated on urgent basis. METHODOLOGY: The study was cross sectional in nature and the participants taking part in this survey were selected randomly (snowball sampling) through phone, email or in person. A questionnaire was sent to them in a google form document and entries received. The survey questionnaire included Beck's depression scale, Burnout index, and WHO well being scale. The survey was done during the timeline of second wave of Covid 19 in India (1 April 2021-31 August 2021). Comparision between two groups done by Chi square test. RESULT(S): The study revealed that 53% of work from home employees suffered from moderate depression as compared to the second group which had more number of people (39%) suffering from mild depression and less than 1% suffering from moderate depression. 66% of the work from home employees had average and above-average levels of burnout, in comparison, 47% of the regular office goers had average and above-average levels of burnout. As per WHO Well being scale, Regular office goers had mean value of 18.16 indicating greater well being as compared to Work from home employees that had 12.90 as the mean value. CONCLUSION(S): It is intriguing that apart from the benefits from working from home, it has negative repercussions on the mental health of the employees. Copyright © 2022, Anka Publishers. All rights reserved.

WashRing: An Energy-Efficient and Highly Accurate Handwashing Monitoring System Via Smart Ring

The outbreak of COVID-19 has greatly changed everyone's lifestyle all over the world. One of the best ways to prevent the spread of infections is by washing hands properly. Although a number of hand hygiene monitoring systems have been proposed, they either cannot achieve high accuracy in practice or work only in limited environments such as hospitals. Therefore, a ubiquitous, energy-efficient and highly accurate hand hygiene monitoring system is still lacking. In this paper, we present WashRing—the first smart ring-based handwashing monitoring system. In WashRing, we design a Partially Observable Markov Decision Process (POMDP) based adaptive sampling approach to achieve high energy efficiency. Then, we design an automatic feature extraction scheme based on wavelet scattering and a CNN-LSTM neural network to achieve fine-grained gesture recognition. Finally, we model the handwashing gesture classification as a few-shot learning problem to mitigate the burden of collecting extensive data from five fingers. We collect data from 25 subjects over 2 months and evaluate the system performance on both commercial OURA ring and customized ring. Evaluation results show that WashRing achieves 97.8%accuracy which is 10.2%–15.9%higher than state-of-the-arts. Our adaptive sampling approach reduces energy consumption by 64.2%compared to fixed duty cycle sampling strategies. IEEE

Effects of Transitioning From a Virtual to In-Person Lifestyle on Depression, Anxiety, and Loneliness in Adolescents With Psychiatric History

Objectives: The COVID-19 global pandemic has caused children and adolescents to face substantial challenges in their daily lives, but as the pandemic restrictions are lifted, children and adolescents have varying opinions about returning to a prepandemic lifestyle. This study investigates the impact of the transition out of a virtual lifestyle to an in-person lifestyle on the mental health of children and adolescents with psychiatric conditions. Method(s): A retrospective review of medical records was conducted on individuals who were treated in an inpatient or outpatient setting at the UCLA Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry following the pandemic. Subjects completed a questionnaire that collected both subjective and objective data on mental health, social and family functioning, academics, daily time spent, and more. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), and UCLA Loneliness Scale scores were used to measure depression, anxiety, and loneliness, respectively. Result(s): A total of 93 subjects under the age of 21 years were enrolled in the study (Mage= 14.2;49 females, 24 males;20 transgender/nonbinary). Using the subject's subjective response regarding the transition from a virtual to in-person lifestyle, subjects were categorized by having positive, negative, and ambivalent feedback. Each feedback group was then compared using a single-factor ANOVA, which found that mental health scores for all 3 groups in all 3 measures had significant differences. There was a significant decline in depression scores (PHQ-9) with a decline in positivity toward the transition (p <.05). Subjects in the feedback groups experienced the same trend in symptoms of anxiety (GAD-7) (p <.05) and Loneliness Scale scores (p <.05). Conclusion(s): Online learning and returning to an in-person lifestyle has made significant impacts on the overall mental health of pediatric psychiatric patients. These results show that there are many different experiences within this transition, and that subjective data is a good indicator of mental health scores. Further research can be done to investigate the specific trends or implications of various diagnoses on the transition from a virtual to in-person lifestyle. ADOL, AD, DDD Copyright © 2022

An artificial-intelligence-based clinical decision support application reduces the rate of adverse clinical events

Objective: We set to determine if the Medical Brain (MB), an artificial intelligence (AI)-based clinical decision support application designed to improve patient safety, has assisted in reducing the incidence of predefined adverse clinical events (hereinafter referred to as Red Never Events (RNEs). Study Design: MB algorithms had been created based on guidelines and best practices vetted by departmental and hospital leadership. RNEs tracked were lack of admistering antibiotics for group B sterp positive patients in labor, lack of admisterating magnesium sulfate for seizure prophylaxis in pateitns with severe preeclampsia, and not discontinuing Pitocin in laboring patietns with a non reassuring fetal heart rate tracing. A retrospective analysis was then divided into four phases tracking the rate of RNEs: 1) June 2018-June 2019: pre-implementation phase (phase 0). 2) July 2019- Jan 2020: roll-out phase (phase 1). 3) Feburary 2020-June 2020: Covid peak (phase 2), and 4) July 2020-May 2022: Post-Intervention phase (phase 3). The number of RNEs per 1000 live births per month was analyzed by Statistical Process Control (SPC) using Statistical software JMP Pro 16. One-way ANOVA was used to detect a statistically significant difference between the four phases. Result(s): Between June 2018 to May 2022, we had 1,424 RNEs and a total of 28,300 Live births. The average total RNEs per 1000 live births decreased from 117.5 in phase 0 to 10.9 per 1000 live births in phase 3, a 90.7% reduction (Figure 1). The Statistical Process Control (SPC) U-Chart demonstrated no special cause signal during phase 0, indicating random variation. Furthermore, analysis showed a shift in the centerline during phase analysis 1, 2, and 3. The difference was statistically significant among the 4 phases on one-way ANOVA ( p < 0.0001). The LOESS Fit Plot shows a downward trend from the Pre-to-Post-Intervention period (Figure 2). Conclusion(s): The use of an AI-based clinical decision support application successfully reduced the rate of adverse clinical events and has aided in avoiding clinical mishaps in a busy obstetrical unit. [Formula presented] [Formula presented] Copyright © 2022

Symptoms of anxiety/depression during the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdown in the community: longitudinal data from the TEMPO cohort in France

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic and associated preventive measures have an impact on the persons' mental health, including increasing risk of symptoms of anxiety and depression in particular. Individual experiencing mental health difficulties in the past could be especially vulnerable during lockdown, however, few studies have tested this empirically considering preexisting mental health difficulties using longitudinal data. Objective(s): The objective of this study is to examine the longitudinal association between preexisting symptoms of anxiety/depression and symptoms of anxiety/depression during lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic in a community sample. Method(s): Seven waves of data collection were implemented from March-May 2020. Generalized estimation equations models were used to estimate the association between preexisting symptoms of anxiety/depression and symptoms of anxiety/depression during lockdown among 662 mid-aged individuals from the French TEMPO cohort. Result(s): We found an elevated odds ratio of symptoms of anxiety/ depression (OR=6.73 95% [CI=4.45-10.17]) among individuals experiencing such symptoms prior lockdown. Furthermore, the odds of symptoms of anxiety/depression during lockdown was elevated among women (OR=2.07 [95% CI=1.32-3.25]), subjects with low household income (OR=2.28 [1.29-4.01]) and persons who reported loneliness (OR=3.94 [2.47-6.28]). Conclusion(s): This study demonstrates a strong relationship between preexisting symptoms of anxiety/depression and anxiety/depression during the COVID-19 outbreak among mid-aged French adults. The findings underline the role of preexisting symptoms of anxiety/depression as a vulnerability factor of anxiety/depression during lockdown. Furthermore, the study shows that loneliness is independently associated with symptoms of anxious/depression, when controlling for prior anxiety/ depression symptoms.

Role and impact of disruptive technology in education and strategies harnessing it

India is a developing country, where education is given a high importance. However, the importance of updating the methods of educating the upcoming generation is not considered as seriously as it has to be. Covid-19 pandemic brought a sudden change around the globe in every field of service, including education sector. Mode of education has fully transformed into online learning atmosphere. Technology which is always a fascination to its users has taken over traditional method of teaching and learning. This study is done in the state of Kerala, collecting responses from college students of every district. This paper focuses on understanding the impact of disruptive technology in the field of education and to assess the attitude of students towards merging this technology with the traditional classroom learning system.

Network Governance for Coordinated Disaster Response

The paper addresses the important role of interorganizational coordination and network governance in implementing disaster response policies facing complex environments of emergencies and crises. The paper analyzes the National Response Framework (NRF) in the U.S. and its role in disaster response coordination. A network perspective is utilized to understand functional coordination based on the emergency support functions (ESFs), and to evaluate the role of the NRF in coordinating disaster response at the federal level. Based on the roles and coordination structures defined by the ESFs, interorganizational networks and affiliation networks are presented in the paper. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper illustrates how the ESFs, especially ESF #7 - Logistics and ESF #8 - Public Health and Medical Services, operated in response to the crisis.

The Effects of COVID-19 on gender, children, and household relationships in Tanzania

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted family routines, relationships, projects, and sociability giving rise to multiple outcomes threatening the health, income, social cohesion, and well-being of individuals and their families. This study aimed to qualitatively evaluate the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on gender and household relationships in Tanzania. Method(s): This was a cross-sectional study conducted in Dar es Salaam, Unguja and Pemba employing multi-stage exploratory sequential mixed-method study design. Data were collected through key informant interviews, focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews. Participants were national, regional and district officials, community health volunteers, influential persons, traditional healers, traditional birth attendants, community members, community leaders and health workers. Information collected focused on the effect of COVID-19 control measures on gender, children, and household relationships. Result(s): Overall, the findings demonstrated a breadth of responses. Many families reported increased gender-based violence, children engaging in child labour, household conflicts due to economic hardship and strained family relationships. In contrast, some positive benefits were reported to include strengthened household relationships, as movement restriction provided ample time for family to stay together during the day. Parents had much time with their partners and children when COVID-19 control measures were in place. Conclusion(s): Although Tanzania implemented COVID-19 control measures without exercising total lockdown, the pandemic had substantial effects on gender-based violence and household relationships. The results call for the need for the government and other stakeholders to strengthen the social welfare interventions in response to epidemics and other emergencies.

Spatio-temporal distribution pattern of COVID-19 in the Northern Italy during the first-wave scenario: The role of the highway network.

Background: The rapid outbreak of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has posed several challenges to the scientific community. The goal of this paper is to investigate the spread of COVID-19 in Northern Italy during the so-called first wave scenario and to provide a qualitative comparison with the local highway net. Methods: Fixed a grid of days from February 27, 2020, the cumulative numbers of infections in each considered province have been compared to sequences of thresholds. As a consequence, a time-evolving classification of the state of danger in terms of Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections, in view of the smallest threshold overtaken by this comparison, has been obtained for each considered province. The provinces with a significant amount of cases have then been collected into matrices containing only the ones featuring a significant amount of cases. Results: The time evolution of the classification has then been qualitatively compared to the highway network, to identify similarities and thus linking the rapid spreading of COVID-19 and the highway connections. Conclusions: The obtained results demonstrate how the proposed model properly fits with the spread of COVID-19 along with the Italian highway transport network and could be implemented to analyze qualitatively other disease transmissions in different contexts and time periods.

Discovery of a new generation of angiotensin receptor blocking drugs: Receptor mechanisms and in silico binding to enzymes relevant to SARS-CoV-2.

The discovery and facile synthesis of a new class of sartan-like arterial antihypertensive drugs (angiotensin receptor blockers [ARBs]), subsequently referred to as "bisartans" is reported. In vivo results and complementary molecular modelling presented in this communication indicate bisartans may be beneficial for the treatment of not only heart disease, diabetes, renal dysfunction, and related illnesses, but possibly COVID-19. Bisartans are novel bis-alkylated imidazole sartan derivatives bearing dual symmetric anionic biphenyl tetrazole moieties. In silico docking and molecular dynamics studies revealed bisartans exhibited higher binding affinities for the ACE2/spike protein complex (PDB 6LZG) compared to all other known sartans. They also underwent stable docking to the Zn2 + domain of the ACE2 catalytic site as well as the critical interfacial region between ACE2 and the SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain. Additionally, semi-stable docking of bisartans at the arginine-rich furin-cleavage site of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (residues 681-686) required for virus entry into host cells, suggest bisartans may inhibit furin action thereby retarding viral entry into host cells. Bisartan tetrazole groups surpass nitrile, the pharmacophoric "warhead" of PF-07321332, in its ability to disrupt the cysteine charge relay system of 3CLpro. However, despite the apparent targeting of multifunctional sites, bisartans do not inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection in bioassays as effectively as PF-07321332 (Paxlovid).

Medical Students' Online Learning Perceptions, Online Learning Readiness, and Learning Outcomes during COVID-19: The Moderating Role of Teacher's Readiness to Teach Online.

This study determined the direct and indirect effects of medical students' online learning perceptions on learning outcomes via their readiness for online learning. It also determined the moderating effect of teachers' online teaching readiness on medical students' online learning perceptions and learning outcomes. We apply the theoretical lens of self-determination theory and constructivist theory to formulate hypotheses. We used self-administered and postal survey methods to collect data from fourth and fifth-year medical students on online learning perceptions, readiness for online learning, and learning outcomes in two waves. We also collected data from the teachers about their perceptions of online teaching readiness. We received 517 usable students' responses (Level-1) and 88 usable teachers' responses (Level-2). We tested Level-1 hypotheses about direct and indirect effects in Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS), and a Level-2 hypothesis about moderating effect was tested using Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM). The results for the Level-1 hypotheses supported the positive effects of students' online learning perceptions and readiness for online learning on learning outcomes. Student readiness for online learning significantly mediated the relationship between online learning perceptions and learning outcomes. HLM results also supported a moderating effect of teachers' online teaching readiness on medical students' online learning perceptions and learning outcomes in such a way that learning outcomes were high when students' online learning perceptions and teachers' online teaching readiness were high. Based on the study's findings, we offer contributions to theory and practice.

Things fall apart. The cultural complex in contemporary times1.

These extraordinary months due to COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter protests, set as they are against a backdrop of the increasingly worrying climate emergency, have brought fear, anxiety and discord across the globe. But we have also experienced a deepening of our understanding of our connectedness, protests against injustice, expressions of social concern and a demand for change. The concept of the cultural complex as developed by Singer & Kimbles (2004) offers a helpful means of connecting the psychology of the individual psyche and the political phenomena of power relations. Using a small example to illustrate how it might operate at a local level, I suggest that a fundamental shift is taking place raising profound levels of anxiety as we move from the known to the unknown. The bipolar nature of these complexes means the extremes are surfacing bringing fears of the very real possibility of more entrenched attacks on democracy from the far right and the hunkering down behind armed borders. But there is also hope that different ways of living together may be developing from the ground up, ways that are rooted in our sense of interdependence - with each other and our planetary home.

Ces mois extraordinaires du fait de la COVID-19 et des manifestations du mouvement Black Lives Matter - sur un fond d'urgence de plus en plus inquiétante concernant le climat - ont généré de la peur, de l'angoisse et de la discorde dans le monde entier. Mais nous avons également fait l'expérience de l'approfondissement de notre compréhension de notre interdépendance, de manifestations contre l'injustice, d'expressions de sollicitude sociétale et de requête pour du changement. Le concept de complexe culturel tel qu'il apparait chez Kimbles et Singer (2004) offre un moyen utile de relier la psychologie de l'individu et le phénomène politique des relations de pouvoir. Utilisant un petit exemple pour illustrer comment cela fonctionnerait au niveau local, je suggère qu'un glissement fondamental se produit, qui fait venir à la surface des niveaux profonds d'angoisse tandis que nous passons du connu à l'inconnu. La nature bipolaire de ces complexes implique que les extrêmes font surface amenant des peurs liées à la possibilité tout à fait réelle d'attaques plus tenaces de la démocratie de la part de l'extrême droite et d'un retranchement derrière des frontières armées. Mais il existe aussi l'espoir que des manières différentes de vivre ensemble se développent à partir de la base, des manières enracinées dans un sentiment d'interdépendance - les uns envers les autres et envers notre maison planétaire.

Estos meses extraordinarios debido al COVID-19 y a las protestas del movimiento Black Lives Matter, sobre un fondo de preocupación creciente a raíz de la emergencia climática, ha traído miedo, ansiedad y desacuerdos a través del planeta. Pero también hemos experimentado una profundización en nuestra comprensión de nuestra conectividad, protestas contra la injusticia, expresiones de preocupación social y una demanda de cambio. El concepto de complejo cultural desarrollado por Kimbles y Singer (2004) ofrece una vía posible para conectar la psicología de la psique individual y el fenómeno político de las relaciones de poder. Utilizando un pequeño ejemplo para ilustrar como esto podría operar a nivel local, sugiero que está teniendo lugar un cambio fundamental, elevando profundos niveles de ansiedad a medida que nos movemos desde lo conocido a lo desconocido. La naturaleza bipolar de estos complejos significa que los extremos están emergiendo a la superficie, trayendo miedos a la posibilidad real de ataques más consolidados a la democracia desde la extrema derecha, y el acto de refugiarse detrás de fronteras armadas. Pero también hay esperanza de que puedan estar desarrollándose modos diferentes de convivencia desde la base, modos enraizados en nuestro sentido de interdependencia - con cada otro/a y con nuestro hogar planetario.

Surfactants - Compounds for inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 and other enveloped viruses.

We provide here a general view on the interactions of surfactants with viruses, with a particular emphasis on how such interactions can be controlled and employed for inhibiting the infectivity of enveloped viruses, including coronaviruses. The aim is to provide to interested scientists from different fields, including chemistry, physics, biochemistry, and medicine, an overview of the basic properties of surfactants and (corona)viruses, which are relevant to understanding the interactions between the two. Various types of interactions between surfactant and virus are important, and they act on different components of a virus such as the lipid envelope, membrane (envelope) proteins and nucleocapsid proteins. Accordingly, this cannot be a detailed account of all relevant aspects but instead a summary that bridges between the different disciplines. We describe concepts and cover a selection of the relevant literature as an incentive for diving deeper into the relevant material. Our focus is on more recent developments around the COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2, applications of surfactants against the virus, and on the potential future use of surfactants for pandemic relief. We also cover the most important aspects of the historical development of using surfactants in combatting virus infections. We conclude that surfactants are already playing very important roles in various directions of defence against viruses, either directly, as in disinfection, or as carrier components of drug delivery systems for prophylaxis or treatment. By designing tailor-made surfactants, and consequently, advanced formulations, one can expect more and more effective use of surfactants, either directly as antiviral compounds or as part of more complex formulations.